Christmas Traditions in the 1980s

Christmas Traditions in the 1980s

As another Christmas descends upon us, what family traditions do you recall from the 1980s?  When did you begin the joyous labor of decorating your home?  Was it before, during, or after the Thanksgiving holiday?  Were there decorating "date rules" that your family followed such as no earlier than 5 days after Thanksgiving and decorations removed before or on the New Year?  Was it a whole-house ensemble, solely the living room with the outside decorations, etc?

(Photos Courtesy of etsy.com and picclick.com, respectively)

Within our childhood home, my dear mother would decorate nearly every room.  We had green garland strands all along the cabinetry in our kitchen and the jelly-like shapes clinging on the sliding door in the kitchen.  Our dining room buffet had a white porcelain Christmas tree which contained a light bulb to light up the colored pine cone and star-on-top inserts.  We had a fiberglass vase that had the random colored lighting and we would constantly be fascinated to look upon the minute dots of light.  Small plates and other Christmas themed knit-knacks were also laid upon the buffet.

In the living room, we would rearrange the furniture to accommodate the Christmas tree in the corner, nearest the entrance.  It was an artificial tree, much like today's versions, wherein the tree limbs were hinged, wire-wound with small, bristled fingers of the tree.  However, I believe it was one large tree versus the modular versions that have two to three sections.  While my parents and sister were busy decorating the outside, I found myself mimicking my father's automotive stature which was laying on my back and decorating the underside and even a few inner limbs with the Christmas tree decor.

(Photo Courtesy of theoldgrainery.com)

What I failed to mention up to this point is that our home was heated via cast-iron radiators.  Why is that significant or relevant to the Christmas decorating with our home?  I'm glad that you asked.  The picture below is of my childhood home which was up for sale about twenty years ago.  Note the rectangular box under the window.  That is the radiator cover which overtop every radiator in the home, except in my bedroom.

(Photo Courtesy of zillow.com)

Personal note: This was our dining room.  The color of the walls were tractor paint red.  The stairway wall along with that door and even the triangular slope on the upper left were all white, wood paneled.  The door on the left nearly blended in with only a small, black handle with a magnetic "catch," much like a medicine cabinet's closure, to keep the door closed.  This led to our basement, by the way.  In the window, I believe the top pain, sat the following stain glass picture of a robin that my mom crafted.

We had wooden radiator covers that overlaid the radiators to hide their less than appealing appearance.  My mother was a wonderful crafter and enjoyed creating village buildings with the yarn and plastic grids.  Upon those radiator tops rested those scenes of a church, houses, candle sticks, and a variety of those yarn creations.  The candle stick I mentioned used a Pringles can to support it.  One of the houses held the cube-shaped tissue box within with the chimney serving as both the smoke and the dispenser.

(Photos courtesy of ebay.com and youtube.com, respectively)

Finally, my mother had the AA-battery powered and perhaps a couple plug in model, candles lighting up nearly every window in our home.  However, I do remember one year decorating our large, picture window in the living room with the spray-on snow (snow-in-a-can).  However, my sister and I went overboard and, well, that was the only year we had use of that product.

When it came to answering your parent's question, "what would you like for Christmas?" were you digging deep into the Christmas Shopping or "Wish books" and circling, ear-marking, or even ripping the pages out in which contained the Christmas item you desired?  When you went to the local department or toy store, did you tug at your parent's arm or clothing, obnoxiously attempting to steer them to the toy you wanted under the tree?

(Photo Courtesy of estatesales.org)

Christmas music was a thing in our home.  Occasionally, we would tune in WCPA to listen in for the music yet I recall having a fair amount of records or perhaps a Christmas compilation album we would set up on my dad's old Sears stereo system, shown above.  I had this stereo until I moved away as a young adult and sadly it moved away too.

The television was also well used during the season as appointment television, as Mr. Christmas aka our founder Jason Gross called it, was well established.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snow Man, A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and A Garfield Christmas quickly come to mind while a few other Christmas movies came about later in my teen years.  These six television specials remain engrained in my memories and kindle fond memories of the season.

(Photo courtesy of hymnary.org)

Finally, one thing to note is that since our family have the Christian faith and we regularly attended church to include the seasonal service on the preceding the day.  There were some services when it was during daylight, regular Sunday worship so we would be in the children's church and join our parent's to be a part of the candlelight service.  While other times, the evening candlelight services were scheduled wherein hymns were sung, a short message from the pastor was spoken, then the candlelight portion was performed while the congregation sang a final hymn; typically the final hymn was Silent Night.

What about you?  What were your Christmas traditions like?  How was your home decorated?

Here at Rediscover the 80s, we wish you all the best.  We wish for you and your family a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!